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As winter begins in war-torn Eastern Ukraine, Alla Gapeshina manages a laugh while discussing how her family will survive the desolate cold months. "We'll have potatoes breakfast, lunch and dinner," she says, standing in her rocket-damaged home.

“Food can be scarce, but we won't starve,” says Ms Gapeshina, 58, who lives in the separatist-controlled village of Alexandrovka and works at a hospital cafeteria. “We'll survive the winter.”

Some 900,000 people are struggling to eat as the conflict between government forces and Russia-backed rebels drags on for a fifth year, according to new planning figures that the United Nations will issue by the end of 2018.